An electrical wiring harness typically comprises a bundle of individual connector wires of varying gauges, impedances and types, all arranged and distributed at different locations within an installation, such as a transport vehicle. Such wiring harnesses are usually bound together in order to facilitate the installation, repair and maintenance of the wires. The transport vehicle industry, especially the aviation and the automobile industries, makes extensive use of such wiring assemblies.
In the aircraft industry, wiring harnesses are used to interconnect the various components and subassemblies located within an aircraft. The number of possible electrical interconnections within a harness grows exponentially with the number of wires and connectors. Therefore, electrical problems within a harness are incredibly hard to identify and locate, especially for already installed harnesses.
In the prior art, a typical method of testing an installed harness is by using a ringing cable. Unfortunately, such a method is inconvenient as it presents numerous drawbacks. Such a method requires that a plurality of operators be deployed at various connection points along the wiring harness, their locations being chosen in accordance with electrical schematics, and the operators communicating and coordinating testing procedures through walkie-talkies. With prior art methods, the operators have to ring cables, one at a time, which requires many operators for complex or multiple connections.
Another prior art method of testing a wiring harness involves connecting devices to the installed harness via cables and performing the testing. However, such a method requires installation of interface cables and other components from the system for testing. Additionally, it requires the deployment of many operators and the use of maintenance manuals, which makes the process time-consuming, expensive and prone to human error.
Another problem in the prior art is that of keeping accurate records of the results of testing and maintenance procedures. Currently, such information is manually recorded by operators into wiring diagrams and/or work orders, a practice which is prone to errors and omissions and which does not allow for analysis of the data recorded over time.
Testing devices such as TDR testing units have been developed to test wiring harnesses, one wire at a time. Unfortunately, prior art TDR methods do not allow for performing testing on multiple wires at a time, which proves to be time consuming and does not allow for gathering complete and accurate information regarding the wires.
There exists therefore a need for a system and a method for testing an installed wiring harness, which is time and cost efficient.
Additionally, there exists a need for a system and method for testing an installed wiring harness, which is not prone to human error.
Furthermore, there exists a need for adequate documentation following testing procedures.